With no memory of being raped, the woman accusing former Denver Broncos cornerback Perrish Cox of sexual assault called him and asked whether the pair had sex after a night out on the town in September 2010.

Cox denied it.

"I swear to God on my baby daughter that I didn't touch you," Cox told the woman, as police listened in on the conversation.

Now Cox's best — and possibly his only — defense in his trial, which starts Monday in Douglas County District Court, may be to admit he was lying on that call and say he had consensual sex with her, observers say.

That's because the woman became pregnant, and a DNA test linked the pregnancy to Cox, leaving his lawyers few options other than to say the sex was of mutual consent or that the test was faulty.

"My guess is that's where they're going," said Denver lawyer Dan Recht, who is not involved in the case.

"He might say they did have sex, it was consensual and that he is sorry and made a mistake and got scared and lied about not having sex," Recht said. "That's also a difficult defense but more believable than the DNA was inaccurate."

The alleged rape happened after the woman went to a nightclub Sept. 5, 2010. There, she met up with Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas, as well as Cox and his girlfriend. After the bar closed, the four went to Cox's Lone Tree apartment. Cox and his girlfriend went into a bedroom, court documents say, while Thomas and the woman went to another room.

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According to the arrest affidavit, Thomas left because the woman had passed out. After he left, prosecutors allege, Cox sexually assaulted her.

Cox was charged with two felonies: sexual assault on a helpless victim and sexual assault on a victim incapable of appraising her own condition. If convicted, Cox, who was cut by the Broncos before last season started, faces a potential sentence of two years to life in prison.

But convicting Cox of the crimes could prove difficult, some say, as there is little hard evidence and no witnesses to the alleged attack. And the prosecution must prove that Cox knew the woman had passed out.

According to state statutes, a sexual assault, as described by the charges against Cox, occurs when the perpetrator knows the victim is incapable of appraising the nature of his or her own conduct; or the victim is physically helpless, and the perpetrator knows the victim is physically helpless and the victim has not consented.

Cox's accuser doesn't recall being raped, but she said she felt dizzy after leaving the bar after consuming four drinks and believes she may have been drugged.

She went to the hospital, but more than a day had passed, making it impossible to detect any sort of date-rape drug.

The woman didn't have a rape-kit test done at the hospital because she was erroneously told it would cost her $500 unless she filed a police report, according to the arrest affidavit. She said she didn't want to falsely accuse someone of rape, so she didn't file a complaint. The hospital later acknowledged it broke the law because rape kits became free under a law passed in 2008.

If there were any signs of bruising or an attack on her body, there doesn't appear to be any documentation of it.

And there were no witnesses.

Without witnesses, rape trials often come down to a he-said, she-said scenario, with jurors left to decide whom to believe.

But this case also has DNA. So it will be difficult or nearly impossible for Cox to deny that he at least had sex with her, unless his lawyer, Harvey Steinberg, tries to convince the jury the test was faulty.

An ultrasound revealed the victim would have gotten pregnant at about the same time of the alleged rape, give or take a day or two.

The facts — or lack thereof — could make it challenging for the jury to convict.

"Jurors want to hear solid evidence that something dramatically criminal happened," Denver lawyer Larry Pozner said. Pozner also is not involved in the case. "The prosecution has a difficult course ahead. Circumstantial-evidence cases can be very powerful, but there has to be a lot of circumstances."

The prosecution does have a card to play in court: Cox repeatedly lied to law enforcement about having sexual contact with the woman, and prosecutors can use that against him if he tries to say the sex was consensual.

That the woman does not have any recollection of an attack is not uncommon for people who have been given a date-rape drug.

Scott Berkowitz, president and founder of the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network in Washington, D.C., said amnesia is a common symptom of being a victim of a date-rape drug.

"The reason a date-rape drug is used is precisely because it does incapacitate victims and leaves them without memories of what happened," he said.

Jury selection starts Monday in Castle Rock, with opening statements likely Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday. The trial is expected to last at least a week.

The accuser is likely to take the stand, Pozner and Recht said. Thomas and current Broncos defensive back Cassius Vaughn, who saw the alleged victim the next morning, will likely testify as well.

And the defense may decide to call Cox to the stand too, so that he can explain why he lied about having sexual contact with the alleged victim — if he chooses that strategy.

But rape convictions are difficult to come by, even with solid evidence, Berkowitz said.

"Rape is the hardest crime to prosecute," Berkowitz said. "It's a hard case to win. The fact that they are pursuing this ... they feel they have a strong case to make up for the lack of physical evidence."

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